Feigning

feigning
    n 1: pretending with intention to deceive [syn: {pretense},
         {pretence}, {feigning}, {dissembling}]
    2: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was
       only pretending" [syn: {pretense}, {pretence}, {pretending},
       {simulation}, {feigning}]
    

Feign \Feign\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Feigned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Feigning}.] [OE. feinen, F. feindre (p. pr. feignant), fr.
   L. fingere; akin to L. figura figure,and E. dough. See
   {Dough}, and cf. {Figure}, {Faint}, {Effigy}, {Fiction}.]
   1. To give a mental existence to, as to something not real or
      actual; to imagine; to invent; hence, to pretend; to form
      and relate as if true.
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            There are no such things done as thou sayest, but
            thou feignest them out of thine own heart. --Neh.
                                                  vi. 8.
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            The poet
            Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and
            floods.                               --Shak.
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   2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to
      counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. --Shak.
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   3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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Feigning \Feign"ing\, a.
   That feigns; insincere; not genuine; false. --
   {Feign"ing*ly}, adv.
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